Listen to this Podcast
More 60-Second Earth
-
The Best Science Writing Online 2012
Showcasing more than fifty of the most provocative, original, and significant online essays from 2011, The Best Science Writing Online 2012 will change the way...
Read More »
[Below is the original script. But a few changes may have been made during the recording of this audio podcast.]
Cars in California offer a new kind of sticker shock this year: carbon. In addition to the familiar smog ratings, labels on new Cali cars rank them 1 to 10 based on greenhouse gas emissions.
The best, a perfect 10, will emit less than 200 grams of greenhouse gases per mile. The bad ones more than 520.
Vermont will also begin offering the labels next year. And the 11 states that compose the northeastern region of the U.S. are also attacking the problem at the source: fuel. The states plan to develop new standards for biofuels and other alternatives that will reduce the greenhouse gases emitted when burned in a car, a furnace or a factory.
These states already cooperate in a cap-and-trade scheme to limit the carbon dioxide emitted by power plants. Other regions, including California and other western states, are copying that plan.
U.S. power plants released roughly 2.4 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide in 2007 generating our electricity. But our vehicles were the second largest source of America’s greenhouse gases. Tailpipes spewed out 1.2 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide from burning gasoline.
The easy-to-interpret labels—10 is great, 1 is bad—aim to change that. By reminding us to keep emissions in mind next time we buy a car.
—David Biello
60-Second Earth is a weekly podcast from Scientific American. Subscribe to this Podcast: RSS | iTunes
See what we're tweeting about
7 Comments
Add Commentnow, how is this supposed to get people to stop driving gas cars? Thats like putting the fat content on pizza... People don't care. All they want is to go fast and eat food with flavor.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this123
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisCO2 Deficit: Atmospheric CO2 concentrations are 80% lower than 170 million years ago when life flourished. It has been a linear decline since then with only a slight uptick in the past 200 years. At the current 280ppm we are near the 180ppm nadir of CO2 concentrations over 570 million years, and if mankind is successful in sequestering this life-essential gas down to about 150ppm, nearly all plantlife on Earth will die. Before we get to that point, agriculture yields will decline, and many beneficial species will disappear. Studies show CO2 is absolutely necessary to life, and increases plant growth significantly at higher concentrations. We should be thankful that increased CO2 has benefited agriculture and plant life over the past couple centuries. There is a finite quantity of carbon on Earth. Much of it has been naturally sequestered deep underground as peat, coal, gas, and oil. Some has been absorbed as carbonates. And much of that is now inaccessible. We have released some of it during fuel burning and making cement, but we also increase the CO2 absorption with lakes, excavation, and erosion.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisrandydutton is a crackpot, a shill for big oil, or a moron.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWhy do you continue to promote this myth of Global Warming when there is a considerable amount of data that shows we are about to enter a period of Global Cooling? God, I'm glad I cancelled my subscription to this rag.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thiswhat is the formula that calculates that 19 lbs. of co2 are emitted from the burning of one (1) gallon of gasoline?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI am curious since this more than double the weight of the gasoline.
well swink, Your car uses two tanks. The gas tank and the atmosphere, which is much a much bigger tank than the one with gas in it. The reaction that produces CO2 requires oxygen from the atmosphere so that is where the extra weight comes from.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAlso CO2 ratings on cars are dumb. The more gas it burns, the more CO2 - that is all you need to know.